Cal.com vs Acuity Scheduling

Side by side for local service businesses: what each does best, what it costs, and which situations favor which tool.

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Booking & Schedulingbeginner setup

Cal.com

Open-source Calendly alternative with a strong free tier, workflows, routing forms, and self-hosting option. Popular with startups, developers, and privacy-conscious teams.

Pricing: Free tier; paid plans roughly $15–$37/user/mo

Strengths

Genuine free tier
Open-source with self-hosting option
Active development

Trade-offs

Smaller integration ecosystem than Calendly
Some polish still catching up

Choose Cal.com if

Startups and technical teams
Owners who want a free scheduling link that stays free
Businesses needing routing to different team members

Visit Cal.com

Booking & Schedulingbeginner setup

Acuity Scheduling

Squarespace-owned scheduling tool for service businesses. Booking pages, intake forms, package sales, memberships, gift certificates, and payment collection at booking. Popular with wellness, coaching, and consulting.

Pricing: From roughly $16–$49/mo

Strengths

Rich booking flow (intake, packages, memberships)
Payment collection built-in
Reliable and mature

Trade-offs

No free tier
Fewer team-scheduling features than Calendly at the top tiers

Choose Acuity Scheduling if

Service providers selling appointments, packages, or memberships
Owners collecting intake forms before every appointment
Businesses collecting payment at booking

Visit Acuity Scheduling

Still torn?

The right answer depends on your lead volume, budget, and what you want automated first. The quiz weighs all of it and picks for you.

Take the 60-second quiz

Pricing shown is an estimate based on publicly listed plans and can change at any time. Confirm current pricing with each vendor.